Is it bad to be a redneck?

[PenguinPecker]

Someone told me that being a redneck is bad.
Honestly, I'm pretty sure they aren't nearly as wild as the internet portrays but I'm just curious...
I think it's more of just the way some people like to behave sometimes and I don't see a thing wrong with it...
What do you think?

[Woollyhats]

I feel weird replying to a person's post who I talk to in real life :|. But...strictly talking about the 'sterotypical' redneck, the kind being popularized by media lately...

Rednecks don't realize the rest of the world isn't laughing with them, but at them.

The redneck craze that has come about recently is concerning because it has tricked some people into worshipping a group of uneducated people who are incredibly stupid.

Examples include things like duck dynasty, trailer park boys, etc. Very few people actually want their kid to grow up to be like someone from these shows - but it's hilarious to watch and laugh at them.

But as I said, when you have kids growing up that say, "I want to be a redneck!" rather than, "I want to go to university, I want to be a doctor, I want to help society in some meaningful way.", or worse, bullying the children that DO say this, and then getting away it because their parents lack of education encourages said behaviour, it becomes a problem.

Note that I am not defining a redneck as someone that works with his or her hands in this context --- I do mean the sterotypical redneck that deliberately stupid, fundamentally religious, idiotic rednecks that cause society no small amount of problems.

I hope for someday the most recent fad won't be redneck humour, drugs, drinking, but more educated and useful things.

[happyschizoid]

I know a few rednecks who are proud of it. They are decent enough guys and are the type that would stop to help you if your car broke down and you where stuck on the side of the road.

My impression is that they are ignorant about a lot of things and do not have any interest in learning about things outside of their comfort zone. They have suspicions about me being gay but it has never been discussed and they do not seem to have any interest in it. I consider them friends and am confident they would be there for me if I needed them just as I would for them.

I have met a whole range of rednecks and like every other group you have to judge them as individuals.

[East]

They love guns...hate gays ...and love to kill things. Where I live..they fly confederate flags off of their jeeps and readily embrace their racism and xenophobia with their bumper stickers. No thanks.

[VileKyle]

They have a purpose.

[SilverFrost]

I think I'll leave this for Saint, my sweet redneck "brother"...

[southbiochem]

Ok, I can only speak from whatever little I get over here about what the term means.

Mostly, when one hears "redneck" here it would be meaning someone from rural Southern USA, most likely from one of those States that seceded.

Basically they are portrayed as embodying everything that is bad about Americans.

Bigotry, intolerance. Most likely supported everything Bush did...most likely to be homophobes, racists, uber-religious in the bad way.

Rather uneducated, the heavy accent, love for guns in a not so responsible way...all of that.

Now, that said, I am not inclined to believe every single person down there (well, up there from my perspective) is like that. But then again, I haven't visited. Can't say.

I also wouldn't use the phrase "being bad". They are still people, and it's hard to imagine that your socio-economic/geographical reality instantly makes you "bad"

Now, granted that the traits I have described are true, yes certainly they be not ones I would aim, but fI would refrain myself from saying "being redneck is bad".

[driftwood]

Someone told me that being a redneck is bad.

Redneck is just a word. Actually it means farmer (someone who spends all day every day in the sun is going to have a red neck). But like a lot of words, it gets used however someone wants to use it.

Some people use it to mean hillbilly, some mean country people, others mean uneducated. Some people use it for anyone they don't like for whatever reason.

Then there are those who proudly proclaim themselves to be rednecks. They usually mean hardworking, uncomplicated, honest. They sometimes also mean straight, bigoted, intolerant.

Very few people use the word to mean farmer. All meanings are optional.

[MisterTinkles]

EXACTLY WHAT do you mean by "redneck"?

Serious question..........as there are many definitions.

I'm from "The South", I think I am qualified to distinguish a redneck from others.

[Zet]

I've always wondered, what are the opposite of Red necks? I mean people that live in the vast untamed nature of the north (Far north Canada [?])? Wood cuters?